News and Events from around the World -- February 13, 2006

Issued by Clearwisdom Net

Content

  • Germany: Practitioners Protest CCP Violence

  • Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group Files Petition with United Nations for Relatives of Practitioners in the US

  • Falun Gong is Deeply Rooted in Turkey



  • Germany: Practitioners Protest CCP Violence

     In the morning of February 10, despite the freezing cold, Falun Gong practitioners and staff members of Epoch Times rallied in front of the Chinese Embassy in Berlin to protest the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for assaulting the Chief Technical Officer of the Epoch Times, Dr. Yuan Li, at his home in Atlanta, U.S.


    Protesting CCP assault

    Berlin practitioner Mr. Ye said: The publication of the Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party by the Epoch Times and the then ever-growing tide of party renouncements made the CCP realize that it is approaching its end. Consequently, it has resorted to such despicable violent measures to attack the newspaper. The assault reveals that the CCP has become a gangster regime and is trying to export underworld measures overseas to suppress outspoken individuals and organizations. The assault also reminds people who still hold hope in the CCP that it is totally decayed and no one can save it.

    A practitioner from the former East Germany said: This is the common feature of communist regime. They don't want people to have the right to know the facts. People will not have true freedom as long as the communist regime is still in power. German police officers who were on duty nearby also came to learn about the practitionerscause and they took the Nine Commentaries and other materials with them.


    A reporter passed by, and he talked with a practitioner for a long time. He said that he didn't know the persecution was so brutal and widespread though he knew CCP persecuted Falun Gong. He asked why the CCP would persecute Falun Gong. Practitioners explained and gave him a of the Nine Commentaries. After the talk, he took the initiative to write down the practitioner's contact information and said that he would conduct a detailed interview later.

    When accepting an interview from media, Mr. Ye said: "Sixty years ago, the Nazis were dominant and they killed countless innocents. However, they were completely discredited and their crimes also disgraced their descendents. Sixty years have passed. Members of the Nazis are still being sought out. The CCP is even more brutal than the Nazis, and it has persecuted more people to death. If the accomplices of CCP don't stop their wrongdoings, the fate of these people will be even more tragic than that of the Nazis.

    Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/2/12/120646.html



    Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group Files Petition with United Nations for Relatives of Practitioners in the US

     The Falun Gong Human Rights Working Group (FGHRWG) recently filed a petition with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights regarding Hu Zhiming, the younger brother of New York resident Hu Zhihua, and He Haiou, the younger brother of Boston resident He Haiying.

    Hu Zhiming was the acting Director of the Computer Department in a Beijing Air force Equipment Institute. He was forced to retire from the military and was unlawfully imprisoned for not giving up his practice of Falun Gong. On September 23 to 25, 2005, police and security agents abducted him and his whereabouts are not known. This case caught the attention of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

    He Haiou is a practitioner from Chongqing. He was illegally sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for clarifying the truth. So far his family members have not received the ruling. For five years, he has been tortured brutally. To protest his illegal imprisonment, He Haiou held a hunger strike for 10 days and his condition became critical. He was sent to the hospital for rescue. His brother in Boston worries about him very much.

    FGHRWG filed petitions for Hu Zhiming and He Haiou with three UN human rights groups, including the Special Representative on Human Rights Defenders, Special Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression, and Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers.

    The Special Rapporteur on Torture at the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement after two weeks of inspection in December 2005 in China. In his news release, the special rapporteur stated that torture is widespread in China. He said that a strange climate of fear, intimidation and self-censorship prevailed in China, which is not apparent in other countries. Many victims do not dare to disclose their suffering even though they have been tortured brutally. Chinese labor camps should be abolished altogether. His report will be submitted to the annual conference of the UN Human Rights Commission.

    Both Hu Zhiming and He Haiying are relatives of practitioners overseas. More family members of other practitioners overseas are being imprisoned and tortured in China. These facts demonstrate that the inhuman persecution taking place in China affects the whole world. When the crimes of the Chinese Communist Party are fully exposed, it will bring about its demise.

    FGHRWG will continue to pay attention to both of these cases.

    At the same time, on FGHRWG's website, more and more support is being received from around the world: http://www.falunhr.org/te/index.php.

    Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/2/10/120500.html


    Falun Gong is Deeply Rooted in Turkey

    Straddling Europe and Asia, Turkey is situated at the juncture of the Aegean Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea. Such a unique geographic location makes Turkey a melting pot of various cultures and ethnic groups. "Turkey" stands for "country of the brave." Historically Turkey possessed splendid culture through thirteen different historical periods. To this day, the country is still regarded as the "cradle of civilization."

    Falun Gong was first introduced in Turkey in 1999. In the past few years, despite strong resistance from the indigenous religion, which presented barriers to the spread of Falun Gong, many people with predestined relationships learned and started practicing Falun Gong. There were many stories full of mystery and wonder.

    Falun Gong exercise practice in Turkey

    Group practices in Turkey

    A little practitioner meditates with her mother

    One Falun Gong practitioner was plagued by sinusitis since childhood. As the disease affected her blood supply to the brain, she had suffered from headaches for over twenty years. Visiting the hospital, going into x-ray, receiving injections and taking medicine had been the routine as she was growing up. In early spring 2003, she ran into a few Falun Gong practitioners by chance in a park where they were doing the exercises. She then also joined the group to practice in the park.

    After she learned that the first draft translation of the Turkish version of the books Zhuan Falun and The Great Consummation Way of Falun Dafa were available, she started reading them right away. A miracle happened when she was reading Zhuan Falun with great eagerness she felt her nose was slowly getting unblocked and the headache was getting better and better day after day. When she finished reading Zhuan Falun the nose that made her suffer for twenty years was completely clear. Headaches also disappeared. Not believing in such a miracle, her family took her to the hospital for a check up. The results surprised doctors who had known her for many years. When asked what magic drug cured her, she announced, "It was Falun Gong."

    There are many examples like this where diseases were cured as a result of practicing Falun Gong. Furthermore, nearly every Falun Gong practitioner in Turkey had extraordinary experiences. Through translating Zhuan Falun, a near-sighted practitioner's eyesight returned to normal and hence no longer needed eyeglasses. An illiterate senior practitioner over seventy years old read through the entire book of Zhuan Falun within the space of a year. For many, Falun Gong brought along new lives, elevated morals and revealed the true meaning of life.

    In the past few years veteran and new Falun Gong practitioners made a lot of effort to clarify the truth about the Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) brutal persecution of Falun Gong to various Turkish government agencies.

    In July 2001 a Chinese practitioner who had been in Turkey for less than a year and spoke broken Turkish learned that some CCP officials would visit Turkey. At the time there was no other practitioner in her city. She went alone to Turkey's supreme legislative power the Grand National Assembly. Perhaps her sincerity touched the staff there, as the chairman of the Human Rights Council of the Grand National Assembly received her in person. Furthermore, the chairman spent more than half an hour with her listening intently to her statement about the persecution Falun Gong suffered in China. With the support from this chairman, one of Turkey's largest newspapers, the National Daily, published a report the next day entitled "The Truth of Falun Gong." The article detailed Falun Gong's benefits to mind and body and its popularity in numerous countries. The report also clearly called out the persecution Falun Gong suffered in China. Later this article was reprinted by many other media.

    A screenshot from a TV report about Falun Gong

    In late September 2005, jointly hosted by several organizations of the United Nations, the International Local Governments Peace Conference was held in Cappadocia, Turkey. Over 1,200 people attended the conference, including many UN officials, local government heads from forty-five nations and regions, representatives from Non-Governmental organizations and officials from many Turkish provinces and cities. Upon hearing the news about the conference, three Turkish Falun Gong practitioners rushed several hundred kilometers overnight to the conference venue. But without invitation to the conference, they were stopped outside of the venue by security staff. Not discouraged, the three practitioners clarified the truth to all the staff members. Moved by their efforts and their perseverance, the conference staff made an exception to allow the practitioners to attend the meeting. During the conference, practitioners recounted the facts of the persecution to many attendees including UN officials. They also distributed CDs and printed materials about Falun Gong. Almost all UN officials and representatives of many international organizations expressed their outrage over the atrocities of the Chinese Communist regime, and their sympathy to practitioners persecuted in China. Practitioners' efforts not only helped conference attendees learn about the genocide of Falun Gong in China but also obtained more and wide attention, sympathy and support.

    Practitioners attended a UN conference to talk with people about the persecution

    Along with her practitioner husband, a practitioner who started practicing in 2001 used fax and mail to distribute material to the public in mainland China, who are deceived by the communist regime. Meanwhile she also explained the facts to local Turkish residents. During New Year 2005 she designed and printed at her own expense three thousand copies of beautiful desk calendars, which spread the truth of Falun Gong and exposed the CCP's persecution. As a result, three thousand lucky Turkish people could see and feel the beauty and peace of Falun Gong three hundred and sixty-five days a year. The practitioner also added a Turkish caption to the "Falun Dafa Spreads Around the World" CD and printed more than 1000 copies. In the past year, she always kept some CDs with her so that she could hand them out whenever she met a people with interest in Falun Gong.


    The "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance" International Exhibition Held at the "Modern Art Center"

    A Falun Gong practitioner who started practicing in 2001 lived in Australia with her Australian husband and son. The couple taught at a famous University, making a comfortable living. Soon after starting Falun Gong practice in 2001, her severe heart disease was miraculously cured. After experiencing such mental and physical benefits, she kept thinking about friends and relatives in her hometown. In 2003 she managed to persuade her husband to give up their favorable positions in Australia and return to her much-missed homeland. Through her sustained efforts, quite a few hometown folks learned Falun Gong and started to practice. In the autumn of 2005 the city government of her hometown, Mersin, invited Falun Gong practitioners to attend the annual Mersin Festival. To show its support for Falun Gong, the city government especially prepared colorful Falun Gong fliers and large banners reading "Falun Gong" and "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance." During the festival, Falun Gong practitioners worked together to leave a lasting impression of the beauty of Falun Gong in the hearts of the Turkish people.

    Practitioners at the Mersin Festival

    Following the spread of Falun Gong in Turkey, more and more Turkish people started to come in touch with, learn more about and practice Falun Gong. We are sure that in the near future more Turkish people with predestined relationships will start practicing Falun Gong. Falun Gong has been deeply rooted in this land and the heart of Turkish people.


    Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2006/1/29/119624.html